With Follies, the Production Company fulfils what
aficionados always hoped would be its function: to give Melbourne
audiences the music theatre masterpieces never seen professionally
here. It is a glittering achievement that will be hard to toss as
outstanding musical of 2008.

This 1971 show has assumed legendary status over the years,
thanks primarily to Stephen Sondheim's exceptional score with its
show-stopping numbers for female singers. It takes place on the
stage of a decaying theatre facing demolition, used by librettist
James Goldman and composer-lyricist Sondheim as a metaphor for
fractured lives and unrealised hopes.

Veteran producer Dimitri Weisman (Bud Tingwell) throws a party
for the stars of his long-ago Follies shows one last time before
the wrecker's ball strikes. Chief characters are former best
friends Phyllis (Anne Wood) and Sally (Debra Byrne) and their
respective husbands, Benjamin (John Diedrich) and Buddy (Philip
Gould). They courted when the girls were in the Follies, but now
the marriage of Phyllis and Ben is stone cold, while Sally's and
Buddy's is volatile, thanks to Buddy's insecurities and Sally's
long-held torch for Ben.

The lives of this four, then and now, with their younger selves
portraying the lost ideals, form the core of the piece.

Right from the start, with the wonderful playing of Orchestra
Victoria under Guy Simpson and the tribute by the old Follies tenor
Roscoe (Kenneth Collins) to Beautiful Girls, you know you
are in for a special night. Roger Hodgman's production is on the
money, the way it conjures the ghostly images of the Follies as the
veterans reminisce - but perhaps his greatest triumph is in the
casting. This hand-picked company is scintillating, and the show is
packed with memorable highlights, any one of which make it worth
seeing. Together, they comprise a rare treat.

The singing and acting talents of Monique Brynnel, Margaret
Haggart, Mary-Jean O'Doherty, Melissa Langton and (as the young
Phyllis, Sally, Ben and Buddy) Amy Lehpamer, Gemma-Ashley Kaplan,
Chris Durling and Stephen Mahy ensure the highest quality all round
in a production that is also well served by the choreography of
Dana Jolly and the lighting design of Paul Jackson.